The difference between 105 and 110 degrees
is fifteen hundred gallons more each day
for a hundred head of heifers
five degrees
thirty minutes
one pint of gasoline
to keep them happy
and alive, without worry
about water—
about engine, pump or pipeline.
Grazing to and from the shade,
our twilit landscape in motion,
we know this slow dance
of summer, this plodding grace
of man and beast.
Gas for water,
morning altar
in the summer.
The size and behavior of a grackle working the shore of a stock water pond that is drying up.
Photo: Terri Drewry Blanke
Terri, Robbin and I weren’t the only ones busy early, yesterday morning.
About 4:00 p.m. yesterday afternoon, an arsonist started a grass fire about a quarter-mile north of the house, 110°. After calling CalFire, I got to the head of the fire with the skid steer as the first engine arrived.
Fortunately, the fire break we built in April kept the blaze along the road and off the hills, leaking only north and south. After unlocking the gate for the crew from Modoc County familiarizing themselves with the local terrain and responding to smoke, I returned south as Air Tac dumped Phoschex on both ends of the 3 acre blaze.
A wake-up call and good practice for us all as we enter fire season.
Our solar pump is unable to keep up with the demand from our weaned heifers, so we’ve been having to pump water with a gas generator everyday as temperatures rise. While waiting for the tank to fill, I kept busy with my camera.
The last artichokes,
unpicked for the bloom and seed,
beckon bumblebees.
After most wildflowers have disappeared and the green grass fades to a brittle bronze, Milkweed becomes the sole attractant for bugs and pollinators, especially the ubiquitous Tarantula Hawks, flying low and slow on erratic, yet undeterred courses. We, and most other animals, move around them.
Unlikely partners yesterday while checking the stockwater and cows on the Paregien ranch, I caught this Tarantula Hawk and a butterfly I’ve never seen before. I Googled lots of black and red moths and butterflies without a match. Now, I wish I’d spent more time and taken some macro shots.
Weekly Photo Challenge: “Partners”
drycrikjournal 